So far, nine of the top 10 bonus recipients at AIG (NYSE: AIG) have agreed to return their bonus money, and 15 of the top 20 executives on the bonus list will repay the money. Cuomo said the money being returned represents about $50 million of the total $165 million bonus pool. Continue reading →

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says treasury secretary is one job that’s not up for grabs.

In an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” Obama said that if Treasury chief Timothy Geithner offered his resignation, the answer would be, “Sorry buddy, you’ve still got the job.”

Obama also took the opportunity to strike back at recent comments by former Vice President Dick Cheney, who claimed that plans to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center will make the U.S. less safe. Continue reading →

CHICAGO, March 20 (Xinhua) — U.S. Federal money should not be used for bonuses, Leo Melamed, chairman emeritus of Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), said Friday on the American International Group’s (AIG) bonuses issue.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Melamed said, “I do understand one should not take advantage of federal money that has been given by the government to help the company survive and use that money for bonuses.”

“I am not sure that AIG deserved to be bailed out, that is a big question mark for me,” said Melamed, father of financial futures and a long-time executive in the field of global derivatives.

However, he said that in the world the U.S. lives in, legal contractual obligations are very sacred and must be carried out.

AIG was the largest insurance company in the United States before it suddenly collapsed in September 2008. The company was bailed out by the Federal Reserve.

AIG became the target of widespread outrage after it was revealed on March 15 that it had paid 165 million U.S. dollars in bonuses two days before. President Barack Obama ordered the Treasury to see if the payments could be blocked or retrieved.

On Thursday, spurred on by a tidal wave of public anger, the House of Representatives voted 328 to 93 to get back most of the money by levying a 90-percent tax on bonuses paid by any company receiving more than 5 billion in bailout funds.

The head of the insurance giant American International Group has used testimony before a US House of Representatives sub-committee to defend his actions since taking the job back in September. Edward Liddy, who has come under fire for the payment of more than 160 million dollars in taxpayers’ money to top executives at AIG, said he would not have approved them had he been CEO when the contracts were signed. He also said he had asked some of those who received bonus payments of 100 thousand dollars or more to partially return them. AIG has drawn intense fire from the public and politicians in recent days for paying out the bonuses after the government was forced to step in with a 180-billion-dollar bailout.